ws from anywhere. i used to like that song. you are watching cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. we begin with major news. president barack obama choosing a nominee for the united states supreme court today setting the stage for a political showdown. merrick garland is his name. just becoming the most talked about man in washington. >> i have fulfilled my constitutional duty. knot now it's time for the senate to do theirs. presidents do not stop working in the final year of their term. neither should a senator.

>> fidelity to the constitution and the law has been the cornerstone of my professional life. and it's the hallmark of the kind of judge i have tried to go for the past 18 years. if the senate sees fit to confirm me to the position for which i have been nominated today, i promise to continue. >> a u.s. court of appeals judge in the washington, d.c. circuit. he is now president obama's choice to preplace the late supreme court justice antonin scalia. let's be clear here this. announcement is sure to set off a major partisan war. it really already has. republican senators have allowed not to hold hearings on the president's nominee and insist this decision should be made by the next president of the united states. we know garland supervised investigations in the uniona

bomber case as well as the oklahoma city bombing. tell me more about him, a. and b, what reaction are you hearing from republicans? >> if the supreme court justices had a pick for this open seat they probably would have pick merrick garland. that gives you a sense of how regarded he is in the community here in washington wash. he served 19 years on the dc circuit and has a centrist background someone who doesn't see his view as ledge laid dprg the bench. that's what president obama hopes will make the republicans come around to give him a confirmation. from the sound of it, republicans are not ready to give the president what he wants. >> the next justice could fundamental alter the direction of the supreme court. and have a profound impact on our country. so of course -- of course the american people should have a

say in the court's direction. it is the president's constitutional right to nominate a supreme court justice. and it's the senate's constitutional right to act as check on a president and withhold its consent. >> there you have it. we expect to hear more about merrick garland and his backgrounds over the next several months. he is 63 years old. he was a partner at a big d.c. law firm here when he took a pay cut to become a lower level prosecutor at a justice department going after gangs in the inner city here in washington. he oversaw the oklahoma city. booing investigation and the case against timothy mcveigh. back in 1997 he was confirmed by a vote of 76-23 including by seven senators still in the senate. he is a friend of chief justice john roberts. the two clerked together and served on the appeals court. he is viewed as a safe choice for obama. but he is also someone who given his age and his relationships

koub influential quickly on the high court much faster than some of the younger candidates that the president interviewed. now we'll wait and see if he gets that chance. >> evan perez, thank you. let's have a broader conversation. kerry severe reno with a group who ones judge merrick garland's nomination. and joining me momentarily gloria brown marshal a constitutional law professor. kerry to you first. we just heard evan sort of go through merrick garland's accolades and his thorough resume. why don't you think he is the appropriate nominee? >> well as leader mcconnell stated it, the fundamental issue is this is an unusual opportunity for the american-team people to have their voice heard in the next supreme court justice. garland is a reliable liberal

vote. that's why the president nominated him. the new york times said his presence on the court would make it the most liberal court in 50 years. that's not a surprise. he is holiday hostile to the second amendment. deference to administrative agencies like the epa, the nrs, nrba opening the door for more bureaucratic control by the government. i think those are things people are going to be concerned about. the president want to cement a fifth solid liberal vote on the supreme court. and judge garland would do that. >> i hear you saying he would be a liberal vote despite the president saying he considers him a consensus candidate. garland was confirmed in 1997 by seven sitting snaerkts including senator orrin hatch.

this was senator hatch then. >> i senator the nomination and encourage my colleagues to do the same. to my knowledge absolutely no one disputes the following. merrick garland is highly qualified to sit on the d.c. circuit. his intelligence and his scholarship cannot be questioned. >> so how would youpy refute that? >> look, suj judge bjork was confirmed by a voice vote. justice thomas, same thing, a voice vote, including leaders who went on to viciously attack those d.c. circuit judges when they were nominatesed to the supreme court. we got a word out of it, bjorking to describe the hostile review process. i think that's the reason --

it's a totally different ball game when you are looking at supreme court nomination. >> what about, though, the risks for republicans to draw this line in the sand, especially when you think about vulnerable senate republicans who would be up for re-election and voters saying why wouldn't you give this person who seems extraordinarily qualified chance? how do you respond to that? >> there is much more risk to move ahead with it. theion why we have a republican senate is because people were upset by president obama's unconstitutional and aggressive actions. pushing back on that is why they elected a republican senate. they are doing their m.a. job in making sure the people have an opportunity to weigh in on this issue. i think there is a lot of red state democrats who have to be worried commercial whespeciallyk into his record on guns and e.p.a. >> kerry thank you. here she is, gloria brown marsh,

constitutional law professor, who is now joining me as well. essentially, kerry was saying that judge garland would be a fifth liberal vote for president obama and that's sort of the legacy perhaps that that would entail. and she is vehemently opposed to that, believes that republicans should continue to draw the line in the sand, that that's appropriate. what do you think? >> well, the president was elected by the people. and i keep hearing the republicans saying the people need a voice in this. and the people have spoken. they elected the president guys. two terms. so it's not the people who nominate the justice to the supreme court. it's the president, within his powers. and it's within the power of the senate to to with advice and consent to go through the nomination process to say yes we want this person or no we don't. it's not a matter of the people deciding whether or not 24s the best nominee. it's for the senate to do their job after the president has

submitted his nomination. >> just as we did moments ago used some sound from the late '90s. let me play sound from mitch mcconnell going to the biden rule. this is when biden was a senator at the time. here he was. >> the senate, too, mr. president, must consider how it would respond to a supreme court vacancy that would occur in the full throes of an election year. it is my view that if the president goes the way of presidents fillmore and john so and presses an election year nomination, the senate judiciary committee should seriously consider not scheduling confirmation hearings on the nomination until after the political campaign season is over. >> so there you have it. you know, republicans right now pointing to a democrat saying well hang on a second, he said

this back in 1992. can't that still apply in 2016. what say you? >>? >> let's go back to 1803 if we're going to go back. marbury versus madison. that was triggered abuse john adams decided at the last minute when he lost re-election that he would sign awful these different job commissions. and that's where william marbury comes in and he is suing james madison because he didn't get the job. there is knot the issue before john marshal as to whether or not john adams could have been done this. the issue was whether or not thomas jefferson was doing what he was supposed to do in not allowing marbury to have the judgeship. so this issue of going all the way back to a president in the later months right at the end of their term allowing judges to take these positions goes way back, further than 1992. >> gloria brown marsh with her history. miss constitutional law

professor, i tip my hat to you, and to you also, carry sef severino. breaking news. after a big night for donald trump, big news about what would have been the next debate with his republican opponents. let's go to dylan buyer, senior reporter for media and politics here at cnn live in los angeles. monday's debate canceled. what happened? it's not happening anymore. the reason it's not happening frankly is because donald trump decided to pull out. and by pulling out, he let john kasich to decide to pull out which leaves of course only ted cruz on stage. ted cruz said he would be willing to debate either says kasich or trump or both. but of course as the evp of fox news just said in a statement, obviously you can have a debate if there is only one candidate on stage. what we were told by fox news sources earlier as well as by the general manager of the venue in salt lake city was that no debate would be happening. so that was supposed to be the

13th debate that the republicans were going to have this cycle. it was an especially important debate given that we've whittled the field down to just three candidates. and there is a big question about what this campaign looks like going forward between donald trump, ted cruz, and john kasich. and that's a debate that we are not going to have. >> so you know, do we know why donald trump pulled out initially? >> right. so donald trump pulled out precisely for the same reason he pulled out of the january 28th fox news debate. he doesn't believe he needs these debates in order to advance his own campaign. so much of the campaign that he has been running for nine months has been based on playing by his own rules. when things are politically advantageous to them he does them. when they are not. he doesn't. look, we are facing the next few weeks we are going to see ted cruz make a hard case that he should be the alternative to donald trump, that donald trump is not a person that republicans can trust in the white house or

even for the republican nomination. donald trump doesn't want to face that on stage. he believes it's advantageous to stay off it. >> dill an buyers, thank you for that. again, no debate monday night. next, speaking of donald trump, he says there will be riots if he is deny a nomination at the convention. we'll talk to his senior adviser about that, and so much mar. plus, former presidential candidate and former congresswoman michele bachmann will join me. she has been quiet for a while but she will join me on donald trump, this u.s. supreme court fight, and hillary clinton. don't miss this. oh, look... ...another anti-wrinkle cream in no hurry to make anything happen.

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you are watching cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. thank you for being with me. in this race for white house we have gone from super tuesday to wake up wednesday, the republican party must now come to terms with the designate gatt mat which shows a contested convention perhaps as likely as ever. trump swept three states on tuesday. but trump has to do better than he has been at winning delegates

from here on out getting more than 50% of the delegates remaining of it's not impossible. it's not. but is it improbable? that's what is up for debate here. still there is no denying donald trump had a stellar super tuesday despite more than $40 million in negative ads against him. and condemnation for violence at his rallies. marco rubio out of the race. he suspended his campaign last night. and the state of missouri poised to cap trump victories. the race is too close to call but trump is beating cruz. you see the numbers. super tight. is donald trump prepared for a contested republican convention? here's what he told chris cuomo on new day. >> if we're you know, 100 short and we are at 1100 and somebody sells at 500 or 400 because we are way ahead of everybody, i don't think you can say that we don't get it automatically. i think it would be -- i think you would have riots.

i think you would have riots. i'm representing a tremendous -- many millions of people. >> joining me now, trump's senior adviser terra huckabee sanders, the daughter of former presidential candidate mike huck be, former arkansas governor as well. sara nice to have you on. welcome. >> thank you for having me. >> let me ask you about what mr. trump said in a moment. listen, as we mentioned you are the daughter of mike huck be. you have long been one of your dad's top advisors. politics is in your blood. you have been around trump as an adviser. on a personal level who has surprised you most in working with him so closely? >> i think what a genuine guy he is. and mostly, i think the thing i like most is the relationship he has with his family. given somebody who is extremely close with my dad, i love the relationship he has with his daughter, ivanka, and both of his sons, and getting to see that behind the scenes and see just how special that

relationship is has been i think a really unique and great thing to -- that a lot of people may not get to be privy to other than on the main stage. >> well on the stage flanked by some family members there. big wins for team trump last night. normally on an evening after a super tuesday or after a weekend he stands up there and essentially says to his rivals get out of the race. but this time, of noted, he encouraged cruz and kasich to stay in. do you know why? >> you know, i think they have made it very clear that they don't anticipate going anywhere any time soon. and i think that donald trump is far from afraid of them and says if you want to stay in, stay in. but i'm planning on getting all the delegates i need before the convention and looking up a win and becoming the republican nominee. if you want to be in and be part of that that's fine. i don't think they are going to stand in his way. i think that's the point he was

making, either be in or be out. it doesn't matter, i'm still going to be nominee at the ends of the day. >> you just heard him talking to chris cuomo this morning on new day talking about potential riots in cleveland if they doesn't have this nomination or if they don't give it to him if he is close enough. he has been under fire for not toning down the temperature of the rhetoric and rye lens at some of his rallies. do you think when he mentioned riots, sara, is that really the right choice of words. i think at the end of the day last night donald trump tripled his delegate lead from the previous day. so honestly, i don't think it's going to matter. i think he is going to get the magic number of 1237 before we get to the convention. and i don't think that that's going to be an issue. >> but numbers aside, was that -- >> tremendous pushback -- >> -- appropriate. >> i think he is probably exactly right.

i think there will be an outrageous amount of pushback if the d.c. establishment tries to take the race away from donald trump. i think he has prove time and time again that the american people are rallying around him and it's time the rest of the republicans get on board and it's time to stop this from being an interparty fight and focus our attention where we need to, on hillary clinton. >> speaking of, we saw the ad that trump posted on his instagram today. you have seen it. let me play it for everyone else. ♪ >> all right. thus far, until today, sara, trump has been saying, i haven't even started in on hillary clinton yet. is this, with that video, officially day number one? >> you know, i think that we're

certainly moving in that direction. i think ted cruz finally got something right last night when he said this is a two-man race. i thinkis' down to donald trump and hillary clinton. and donald trump is going to be the republican nominee and i think go on to win the presidency in november. and i think this is only the beginning of that campaign to start that's going to carry through the fall. >> the hillary clinton laughter -- rather, the hillary clinton barking and the vladimir putin laughter, i mean, is this the tone that your campaign is going to take for the next six months? >> you know, i think that donald trump has made it extremely clear the type of issues that he cares about. and the american people have certainly recognized that. and have rallied around that. and continue to come out in massive numbers and support him. so i think that we're going to see a lot of different things. and i think the biggest thing that we're going to see is a drastic contrast between donald

trump and hillary clinton and donald trump and the other candidates. he is the only one not completely controlled by the washington to wall street actis of power. we are going to see him come in, break that up, draw that contrast not just today but every day moving forward until we win the white house in november. >> on the contrast, of course, trump campaign looking ahead as you mentioned with hillary clinton. hillary clinton used to be secretary of state. she has logged some miles. contrasting with mr. trump, this morning he was on msnbc and he was asked about who he consults with on foreign policy. his answer was this, verbatim. quote i'm speaking with myself number one because i have a very good brain and i've said a lot of things. so i know what i'm doing, and i've listened to a lot of people. >> he is having a little bit of trouble answering this question. he keeps getting this question. sara, is he getting advice? why has he yet to assemble a team? >> i know he has talked to

several different military experts. he has had several that have come out and endorsed him. people like j.d. gordon and others over the last several weeks. i think he will expand that circle and i think as he draws closer to looking up the nomination and seth his sights on hillary clinton you will see a lot more specifics on national security and foreign policy moving forward as we get into the general election. >> sara huck besanders, thank you so much for your time. come back. thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> absolutely. coming up, former presidential candidate congresswoman michele bachmann. she will join me. we'll get her thoughts on the 2016 race including front-runner donald trump and president obama's pick for the u.s. supreme court. my conversation with the congresswoman next. eat more fiber. flax seeds. yogurt. get moving. keep moving. i know! try laxatives. been there, done that. my chronic constipation keeps coming back.

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we are at the bottom of the hour. you are watching cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. the road to the white house is become increasingly clear for the democratic front-runner hillary clinton. the third super tuesday was a massive success for the former u.s. secretary of state. she swept her rival, bernie sanders in four out of five states but maintains razor thin leads in missouri where votes are still being kourchted. thus far she has nearly 1600 delegates, enough to make it pretty clear she will win the nomination and likely go up against donald trump n. her victory speech last night secretary clinton wasted no time taking on the republican front-runner. >> our commander in chief has to be able to defend our country,

not embarrass it. engage our allies, not alienate them. defeat our adversaries, not embolden them. when he embraces torture, that doesn't make him strong. it makes him wrong. >> joining me now, brian fallon, press secretary for hillary for america. nice to have you back on. welcome, sir. >> thanks for having me. >> congratulations. it was a huge night for you guys. that said, you know, donald trump has been saying he meant even taken on hillary clinton yet. now appears to be day one for. that here's his video. ♪ [ barking ] [ laughter ] >> brian fallon, your response?

>> look, donald trump has made pretty clear his strategy is to try to pit americans against each other to get votes. so far it has worked to help him coalesce about 40% of gop primary voters. i don't think it will translate in a general election. in fact, he is having a hard time even you unifying his own party let alone the whole country. i think donald trump has some work to do within his own party. we for our part are confident that her message that you heard from her last night about trying to bring people together to break down barriers to help people get ahead is going to be her message as opposed to his guysive messages pitting people against each. >> still, he is taking it there, and we still have six months to go. politics isn't all pretty packages.

how will you eventually counterattack? >> look. we are still focused on sewing up the nomination. i think we made great gains toward that growth last night and the we are on a clear path but we still have to clinch it. senator sanders is not going to go away. there will be a time when we will focus on the general election. republicans have largely been unable to criticize donald trump because they share so many positions like him. but someone like hillary clinton will beic able to take the fight to him, if fact that he opposes the president's executive actions on immigration to say nothing of his hateful rhetoric to muslims, to migrants, to women. >> david pluf has said that democrats underestimated donald trump. do you think democrats learned a

lesson from what republicans are experiencing with doctor trump? >> i think he certainly will be waging a concampaign in the most unconventional way. that has proven true over the last several months. again i think he has benefitted from the fact in a republicans have treated had.with kid gloves because they are unable to expose any differences with him on the issues. if you look at the hateful rhetoric he opened his campaign with, talking about calling mexican immigrants rapists and talking about building a wall and having mexico pay for it. it took republicans forever to speak out against that. >> that was the last however many months but he would have an advantage because he is already thinking general election and rolled out this video with hillary clinton barking. you are saying you may not fully clinch until the end of may. talk about that balancing act

that your campaign has to accomplish focusing on the primary fight, can't quite have all eyes on the prize. >> this is true of the republicans but not true for the democrats. republicans, whoever emerges is going to try hard to execute a pivot to sound more reasonable after spending the last several months catering to the conservative party. where democrats are is right in the mainstream of where the country is. we are not going to have to execute some kind of message reset. all the issues we have been talking about are issues that animate general election voters. everything from sensible immigration reform, protecting the affordable care act. pay equity and minute him wage increase. how can we get companies sharing profits with their workers. all the issues we have been talking about most in the primary are the same issues that will galvanize voters in the general election.

>> brian fallon thank you so much. next on the republican side former minnesota congresswoman, former 2012 presidential candidatish innel bachmann will join me. we'll get her take on president obama's nomination today for the u.s. supreme court, this fight that really has already started. plus what does she think of the current state of the 2016 presidential race now that donald trump is the front-runner? who is she making in the current campaign. >> michele bachmann, next. ♪

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welcome back. i'm brooke baldwin. a political opinion yachta. a sacrificial lamb. it has been less than four hours

since merrick garland was nominated to replace u.s. supreme court justice antonin scalia. but pundits are suggesting he will never be seated. mitch mcconnell has been relentless on his promise not to meet on the president's choice net let alone vote. this is all operating under the assumption that the republicans would win the presidency this year, replace late justice scalia with a like minded conservative. but a possible donald trump nomination and a fractured republican party offensecally complicates all of that. just before the show started i talked to michele bachmann. here's what she told me. >> congresswoman bachmann, nice to see you. welcome. >> brook, it's great to be on your show again. thank you. >> let me begin with the supreme court fight. president obama says he is upholding his constitutional duty, you know, selecting this consensus candidate. and then now it's time that senate republicans do their

constitutional duty. do you think the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell is doing the right thing here? >> yes, he is. i think he is hearing from the american people they are very concerned about the supreme court and the direction of the supreme court. i want to say first of all that i do believe that barack obama fulfilled his constitutional duty. the president is supposed to nominate someone under the constitution. but also, the senate has a separate duty which is advise and consent. the senate has observed the president in one unconstitutional action after another. they have observed the supreme court hand down rulings which clearly don't seem to be in line with constitution. this is a part of our checks and balances under the constitution. i think both sides are acting appropriate appropriately. >> this is a potential nominee who seven sitting republican senators, you know, backed back in 1997 and are still sitting on

capitol hill today, including senator orrin hatch, does that not make any difference to you, congresswoman? >> well, there is a big difference as you know, brooke, between being nominated for a federal district court position or an pelt court position and the united states supreme court. the united states supreme court is the last, final buck stop. those are nine positions. they have to be carefully vetted. and just because senators support someone prosecutor a lower court position does not necessarily mean they support that position for the top slot stloo. >> let's play the what if game looking down the road f the nomination is indeed stalled until the next president is sworn in. let's say the next president is trump. let's say donald trump nominates a supreme court justice. do you think that nominee would be conservative enough to satisfy the senate republicans? >> that's the speculation of all speculation. no one really knows. i think people recognize in ted

cruz he is the constitutional conservative candidate that's running right now. people have a lot of high confidence that he would nominate someone who would uphold the constitution. that's the question about donald trump. and yet donald trump is -- will be speaking to that issue, i think, even more. both cruz and trump are the two intriguing candidates that remain on the republican side. and i think this will be a question, brooke, that you will hear a lot of reporters ask both of them. because this is a very strong, high priority issue for voters in this upcoming election. >> yes, they will, starting today. and on the race for the white house, do you see any scenario where donald trump emerges with the magic delegate number or not quite with the magic number but with the most delegates, shy of that 1237 and doesn't become the nominee? how would the grassroots of the party respond to that? >> that's a great question. i personally don't think that's

going to happen. if donald trump is within striking distance of the magic number that gives him the nomination automatically, i don't think you will see a scrapping fight at the convention to take that away from hmm. >> you think they will give it to him. >> because the people will have spoken. i do. i think it will happen. >> visz versa, i think if it's ted cruz and he gets the requisite number of delegates or very close, i think he will get the nomination. i think it will be too divisive within the party. just like now with hillary clinton, she effectively is now the nominee even though all the juice and the energy is behind bernie sanders. i think there would be a meltdown if once the candidates got to the democrat convention and the nod was given to bernie sanders as opposed to hillary clinton. >> on the republican side let me share an add, this is by a conservative antitrump super pac. >> it really doesn't matter what they write as long as you've got a young and beautiful piece of

a [ bleep ]. >> that should be a pretty picture. >> there was blood coming out of her eyes. blood coming out of her -- wherever. >> are you worried that mr. trump will repel women, especially looking ahead, independent women voters? >> no. no. hardly. if you look at the voting so far, he has done very, very well with african-americans, hispanics, women, all sorts of demographics. that's what really has astounded people how well donald trump has done. because what people see in donald trump is a positive vitd who is pledging to make the country great and create high paying jobs for americans. that's what means want. >> do you support him, mr. trump? >> i haven't endorsed either candidate. i think we were going to see either trump or cruz. both candidates have very strong favorability. and i think that either one would do a very good job.

but if you look at the negative speech that hillary gave last night, she was angry and downcast. and you compare that with the positive speech that donald trump gave last night there is a real sharp contrast. i think that's why we're seeing. >> much ado about the rhetoric on the republican side. final question, even mitch mcconnell on the phone with donald trump saying listen could you disavow some of the violence happening. why do you think donald trump hasn't done that? would you, if you were in his shoes? >> he has disavowed the violence. it's been very clear that he was. and it wasn't originated by trump supporters. it was originated by sanders supporters. it's bernie sanders who needs to apologize and to call on his supporters to stop all of this. we can't have this community organizer ontation. somebody could get seriously. it's got to stop. >> congresswoman michele bachmann thank you so much. >> absolutely brooke. thanks again.

great to be with you. coming up next, ohio governor john kasich celebrating a massive win in his home state. he says he has what it takes to get to the nomination. but mathematically does he really? what is his path forward? we'll discuss that next. is always blue. and the kids always eat their vegetables. because the salad there is always served with the original hidden valley ranch. i'm gonna take mucinex sinus-max. enough pressure in here for ya? too late, we're about to take off. these dissolve fast. they're new liquid gels. and you're coming with me... you realize i have gold status? mucinex sinus-max liquid gels. dissolves fast to unleash max strength medicine. let's end this. i accept i do a shorter i set these days.22. i even accept i have a higher risk of stroke due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat, not caused by a heart valve problem. but i won't play anything less than my best. so if there's something better than warfarin,

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there are some big winner take all states still to come, including new jersey, pennsylvania, including if you go all the way to june out to california. if you look at it, we could end out at a possibility at out in california, 174 delegates out at the end of the june could be the thing that puts somebody over the top. we have to watch this play out as we go forward. yes, the math for donald trump is more kplikted abuse john kasich won. but with a three man race a lot of people saying john kasich saying in could help trump. in the winner take all states that could be an advantage, trump. >> john king at the magic wall

explaining the path forward for republican candidates. genevieve, senior contributor of the daily signal. on john kasich, it is mathematically impossible for the ohio governor to clinch the nomination outright. what is his best case scenario? >> even if you are believe in fairy tales and happy ending i don't see the yellow brickette road for john kasich. you are right. it's mathematically not possible. and here is the other reality. there are two things driving the republican election. two lanes. one is represented by ted cruz, a tugsal traditionalist. and the other is the more populous side represented by donald trump. both groups share something in common. they thought we had a government that was of the people for the people by the people but they decided you know the folks in washington that really isn't what they are there doing. they are there for themselves.

while they disagree on some of the policy differences and how we get government back in check, i think what is animating them at the foundation really is truly the same. and i don't know that john kasich plays into that. and i think those are the two winning messages right now. >> you don't see any potential to go, with your analogy of an emerald city in cleveland for john kasich whatsoever? just so i'm catching what you are throwing down? >> you are absolutely right. even if we had a contested convention, why -- i don't see any way where either donald trump or ted cruz don't show up with the most delegates. why would john kasich be the answer to any of that based on what vote remembers saying in the exit polls, what they are saying in who they vote for? i mean it doesn't make a lot of sense. >> what about watching donald trump last night. normally after his wins or sometimes not as massive wins as last night he will stand out on the podium flanked by the flags and say to his rivals get out of the race. last night he did not say that

specifically to kasich or cruz. i'm curious why that is? how would it benefit donald trump to keep them in? >> he says he wants a two man race. he he mentioned marco rubio but didn't mention john kasich or ted cruz. one of the things that john king mentioned having three could be helpful to donald trump. something else to keep in minds. 14 of the next 22 primaries are closed primaries, meaning only republicans can vote. that's not been as friendly to donald trump as moore open primaries have been, where independents and democrats can cross over. he has won some of those, i think he has won six. it will be interesting to see with a faller speeld to you that plays out. >> genevievewood we will talk again. coming up next, one of president obama's former advisors warns do not understatement donald trump.

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continue on, you are watching cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. thank you for being with me. president barack obama has selected the man he would like to see replace the late supreme court justice antonin scalia and set the stage for a political showdown. we are talking about merrick garland now the most talked about man in washington, d.c. >> i have fulfilled my constitutional duty. now it's time for the senate to do theirs. presidents do not stop working in the final year of their term. neither should a senator. >> fidelity to the constitution and the law has been the

cornerstone of my professional life. and is the hallmark of the kind of judge i have tried to be for the past 18 years. if the senate sees fit to confirm me to the position for which i have been nominated today, i promise to continue. >> let's be clear. president obama may have made his choice. but senate republicans say that is as far as this whole thing will go, vowing not to vet, not to hold hearings on garland, and insisting the addition should be made by the next president who is elected. here is senate majority leader mitch mcconnell earlier today. >> the next justice to fundally alter the direction of the supreme court and have a profound impact on our country. so of course -- of course the american people should have a say in the court's direction. it is a president's

constitutional right to nominate a supreme court justice. and it's the senate's constitutional right to act as a check on a president and withhold its consent. >> joining me now, dana bash, cnn chief political correspondent and jeffrey toobin, author of the oath, former federal prosecutor and staff writer at the new yorker. great to have both of you on. jeffrey, you know his resume. why would he be the president's pick? >> because it takes the issue of qualifications to have table. >> he is so qualified. >> by any standard he is qualified to be a supreme court justice. so the senators are left with one argument, which is a process argument, which is we want the next president to pick because we are in an election year. that is not an especially appealing political argument considering we have a president, we have a senator, we have

senators. so that's -- and, i think, the president thinks if anyone's going to get through, a 63-year-old who would not serve as long as someone in their 40s, the senate might relent at some point perhaps even after election day. >> supported by the seven senators still signature, including senator orrin hatch. dana, what is interesting not only are the republicans not holding a hearing, vetting. i was listening to manu raju, they are not even doing the fbi background checks. that is so how not into this they are going. but i know the president said the judge will be going to capitol hill to meet with some of the members of congress tomorrow. what does that conversation look like? talking about the weather? i'm being kind of serious. >> that's a great question. he's going to meet with democrats. that's a given. >> okay. >> the question is, his meetings with republicans. now, we have heard from mitch mcconnell, the senate majority

leader that he will not meet with him because he considers it a waste of tomorrow because all the reasons you just listed they are not going to consider him official low or otherwise. but the question is for the republicans who are vulnerable, up for re-election in november. several of them have told others on capitol hill they will have a meeting with the nominee but that's where it stops. you know because they will meet with anybody. that's their argument. but to your point, those conversations are going to be like, what are you going to talk about? i mean, my sense is that you are talking about kelly ayotte of new hampshire, susan collins of maine. kelly is one who is in the tough re-election race. sues san collins is one of the only remaining moderate republicans from a bluish state. what are those conversations like? i'm guessing, you are really

qualified. i'm sorry you are in this position, it's not you. it's the guy who nominated you. >> in terms the stakes, jeff toobin, you have four-four now. four conservative justices, four liberal justices. that's where this position is so important. is the president knowing putting this person up is different than leaving the road open for an even more liberal nominee appointed by hillary clinton? >> younger nominees like sri srinivasan is in his late 40s. he will not gothrough the process now. he will not be damaged by it as a nominee might be. so he would have into perhaps a future nomination with a cleaner slate. the other point to be made is

that by not picking someone with more immediate appeal, not picking a woman, not picking a minority, the president loses an opportunity to motivate his base voters for the election coming up. that's something that i think a lot of democrats are disappointed by. but that's just not how the president rolls. >> okay jeff toobin thank you very much. dana bash, thank you as well. speaking of the presidency, let's go to this, the race for the white house. here we are. we are waking up on wednesday after some massive wins for several of these candidates here after super tuesday part three. the republican party now needs to come to terms with the delegate math and shows a contested convention is as likely as ever. donald trump swept in they states tuesday. his loss to governor john kasich of ohio means this, that trump has to do better than he has

been doing at winning delegates from here on out getting more than 50% of the delegates left. it is not impossibly but it could be improbable. president obama's 2008 campaign manager actually told fox news, saying, quote, we have never seen anything like this in politics. democrats should not be popping champagne corks since donald trump is doing so well. that was david plouf. joining me van jones, ryan williams is back with us as well. and cnn national political reporter may have been restin. awesome having all of you on. and may have been, i mean, if i can begin with you and your extraordinary reporting on cnn politics. you make a lot of points. let me begin with this line from you, not only did the political world undersaimt estimate frump's electoral strength for months they belittled his campaign as theatrics.

too little too late in terms of the super pacs and the negative campaign ads or not quite? >> too little too late is what it looked like last night. i think the question everyone is having today, the donors, the people involved in antitrump effort is did they have enough time to do what they wanted to do to donald trump before tuesday night? it was a late effort pull together a siren call that went out to donors to put in a huge amount of money to try to not knock donald trump out before super tuesday but start to bring down his delegate count. we saw a mixed bag last night on that front. i think what's clear is that the establishment clearly did not realize this was going to be an issue in time. they waited too long and now they have a huge task in front of them, which is to try to take down someone who has been building his bran for some decades now.

there will be a lot of donors today that will look at last night's results and say i don't know if it's worth the investment, can we blunt this guy's momentum? it is a huge fascinating conversation going on right now within the republican world. >> perhaps there was definitely unestimating wrong republicans. we were talking about this last summer. and here we are, he could clinch it ultimately. van to you on the democrats and david plouf's claim. i was truking to brian fallon last now, press secretary for hillary for america. they might have been popping bottles last night, b i don't know if they are popping bottles ahead of november. how seriously do you think democrats really need to take mr. trump? >> a lot more seriously than we have. this is trump-zilla. this guy destroyed the republican establishment hands down. it was ugly. there is not one establishment republican left except for kasich, who has one state to his

name. and you know, he can't go anywhere beyond. that this is a phenomenon. and you have liberals from coast to coast saying, well, he can't win. it can't happen here. it is happening here. i don't know what more evidence liberals need to take this seriously than the fact that -- >> is it denial? >> it's some bizarre mental -- i don't know -- brain fart. listen, you can't sit here and look at these numbers and see this guy winning in state after stai state region after region, rich people, poor people, smurfs, moneyettes, everybody in the republican party and not begin to panic. i am suggesting there is a time for calm. there is a time for panic. democrats should be panicking. please start. >> okay. so memo to democrats, panic. ryan, to you as the republican. he is talking about you as well. >> look, donald trump is a political phenomenon. a - this is foelgtly unexpected. many in the republican party didn't see this coming and they

let him get out of control. i think van is right, democrats should take him seriously. i think he has the potential to be a weak candidate given the statements he has made but the rules are off this cycle. no one knows what's going to happen at convention, no one knows what is going to happen in the fall. i think democrats would be ill advised to underestimate him. >> we are perhaps getting a piece of foreshadowing of what it could look like if it is trump v hillary. we have this video from the trump campaign from his instagram. roll it. ♪ [ barking ] [ laughter ] >> i mean, hillary clinton bark, ryan. and vladimir putin laughing. is this officially the trump pivot? is this him taking on hillary

clinton and the foreshadowing of the tone that we will be talking about the next six months? >> i think so. i think trump is beginning to position himself for the general election. he backed out of the debate next week. i think he wants to try to set his sights on hillary clinton which anybody would do at this point given his position. >> it behooves him. >> yeah, it hess him. make him look like he is already the nominee even though there is more voting to go before the convention. >> anden then van as far as hillary clinton is concerned she isite fighting the good fight with a fierce rival, bernie sanders, may not clinch until the end of may. what is that like, do you think, for the democrats in terms of a balancing act. can't set their sights on donald trump yet if he is the nominee. >> obviously if you are hillary clinton you are a little bit annoyed but bernie sanders has a lot of momentum, still. there are many more good states ahead for him and he wants to go to those states and compete and get more delegates.

the math looks very, very hard for him but his train hasn't come to a stop. fortunatecally trump can't just turn and fire on her either. he has to worry about his map and his math. that is a very good thing for democrats. democrats are not psychologically ready. everything that democrats are accused republicans of, waiting too late, not taking him seriously democrats are doing it to the 20th power. you have really got to worry about a donald trump and what he might be able to do in the rust belted, michigan, and pennsylvania and ohio to a hick. because he can say i'm against nafta. she is for nafta. her husband signed a document that took your job. that is a tough message. we've got get ready for this guy. he is not a joke. people will take him seriously in the states that matter come november. >> i mean even in terms of on theics, mave and i want you to jump in, when i keep seeing pictures of donald trump flanked by all the american flags on the

evensings after his wins on super tuesdays talk about looking presidential, there you go. >> except for when the riots are going on. anyway. >> except for that. >> exactly. i mean, he has tried that kind of on and off over the last couple of months, being flanked by the flags and calming his tone. to van's point what is scary for democrats and hillary clinton is that he is such an unpredictable candidate they don't know how he will take on hillary clinton. look at all the republican candidates he demolished so far. and he keeps telling his crowds he hasn't even started on hillary clinton yet. i think we have no idea yet what the attacks are going to look like and what the potential is. hillary clinton keeps getting dragged to the left in this fight with bernie sanders on issues from immigration to trade. and donald trump, as van was saying, has a chance to come into the rust belt and say wait a minute she is way too liberal.

i'll going to be more of a centrist, stick with me. it will be a fascinating debate. >> you mentioned riots. let me hit pause because i want to take you guys all over a commercial break. donald trump says there will be riots in cleveland if he is denied that nomination. i want to talk about that. plus ted cruz. got to mention ted cruz picking up support of a emin of the bush family. not jeb. not george w. our interview with that member of the bush family ahead. and the kids always eat their vegetables. because the salad there is always served with the original hidden valley ranch.

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that just tastes better. with more vitamins. and 25% less saturated fat. only eggland's best. better taste. better nutrition. better eggs. if we're you know 100 short and we're at 1100 and somebody else is at 500 or 400 because we're way ahead of everybody, i don't think you can say that we don't get it automatically. i think it would be -- i think you'd have riots. i think you'd have riots. you know, i'm representing a tremendous -- many, many millions of people. >> that was donald trump on with chris cuomo this morning. so my panel is back, van jones, ryan williams, mave restin.

ryan to you, do you agree if donald trump let's say comes within 100 delegates of the magic number, will the rnc just give it to him? >> no. i don't think so. he needs to win 1237 dogts get the nomination. if he doesn't, we are going to have a contested convention. those are the rules. >> is that a mistake. do you think he has a foin in the riots or at least a bit of a blood bath in the republican poert. >> no, look. those are the rules. he will have to go to a second or third fwalt and he is free to try to get more support but those are the results. he needs to get a majority of the delegates at the convention to win. >>'s how it should be. >> that's what he should do. >> brooke, this is very, very troubling. first of all, there are rules, and part of being a leader of a party and frankly of a party is your ability to unite that party. he should be able to get the extra 100 people from a kasich

or rubio. if you can't, there is something wrong with his leadership. to already be threatening violence -- that was of a threat. if there are going to be riots if i don't get my way. you are not a toddler, you are not in preschool, there are rules. thises why this guy should not be president. if anybody else in american life said give me my way or there are going to be riots nobody would put up with it. >> van why is it a threat? curious what you think. and will your comments build what won't be happening monday night. >> the thing about trump -- you go to his rallies. you have been to his rallies. you feel the electricity in the crowd. i think the point he was making is he has passionate supporters who would be very angry if other candidates came in and fried to push this to a contested

convention. i don't think any of us knows what that looks like. we know there have already been violent clashes between protesters at his rallies. that's the conversation that's happening right now within the republican party. how much of a risk are we running by continuing to run these antitrump efforts angering his supporters, not only splintering the party but potentially decimating the party going into november when he is up against hillary clinton who potentially is a really strong candidate? >> brooke. >> go ahead. >> brooke, this is terrifying. listen, you can't threaten violence in the american system if you dent don't get your way. fine, look, if he can't figure out a way to get a extra 100 delegates for himself he probably shouldn't be the leader of the free world. >> let me push on you, because this is what team trump would say, he is not threatening violence, he is just saying he is surrounded by passion add people, if he gets close and

doesn't make that number there will be riots. >> he should be able to say. >> brooke, just talking to -- i was talk informing many of the people in his crowd over this weekend in florida here about what they would do if the rest of the republican establishment pushes this toward a contested convention. >> what did they say? >> those people said i will be out there doing everything i can to get him elected. i will be volunteering. i will be all in. that idea is already enraging them. donald trump pointed out there were millions and millions of dollars penn is spent against him up until last night and at the same time he still pulled to have victories. he showed the fashion and enthusiasm is there. messing with that is going to be a big risk for the republican establishment. >> to be continued. listen none of us have any idea what cleveland could look like. thank you all so very much. with this whole possibility of a brokered convention if that's what we end up with come

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. donald trump has certainly won the majority of republican contests thus far. yet the establishment wing of the party appears still hesitant to full lee embrace him as their nominee. with ted cruz and john kasich in the race is the idea of a

brokered convention truly a reality? if so, here's what would happen. >> reporter: brokered conventions are rare. the last gop brokered convention was back 1948. what is it? a brokered convention is when no candidate has the majority of the delegates needed to secure the nomination. the republican candidate needs 1237 to win the nomination. what happens at a brokered convention? first a delegate vote is taken. this is called the first ballot. if no candidate has the number of delegates needed the convention is considered brokered. and things start to get a bit more complicated. once the convention is brokered. the delegates are no longer tied to their originalth and are free to vote for whom ever they want and all bets are off. this is when serious wheeling and dealing takes place. delegates can be persuaded to change their vote and the candidate who originally had the most delegates may lose support and be cast aside.

the voting colmes keeps on going until the candidate wins the designated number of delegates. this can take time. like it did in 1880. >> they went through 35 ballots. and they through their support behind someone who wasn't even run. >> reporter: some think a similar possibility to happen this time around. >> joining me, david chall on. david chall on, i talked to michele bachmann a couple minutes ago. former congresswoman. wanted to be president in 2012. she said to me, listen, if donald trump comes close to the number of 1237 they will give it to him no questions asked. you say rules are the rules. >> you can't just give the nomination. it doesn't work that way. you do, as the video showed, have to get the magic number, 1237 delegates. usually brooke we go to a

convention, the biggest drama is which state is going to put the presumptive nominee over that magic number, his home state or a big battleground state? that's about the level of drama we get at in terms the voting on the floor. this is will a candidate get 1237 and actuallion obtain the nomination? if that doesn't happen on the first ballot, then every delegate is unbown it is and an open convention. it's not something you can just give. i agree with former congresswoman bachmann about if he is within shouting distance of the magic number he is most likely to emerge with the nomination. >> okay. okay. i got it. but then you just heard in the piece, garfield wasn't even on the ballot but his name was thrown in and boom, we know what happened, we know our history. what if somebody else's name is floated, we heard from paul ryan, house speaker, he says essentially thanks but no thanks. i think people running for

president should be the one to ultimately get the nomination. is this going to be a trend, a name gets floated and suddenly we start getting statements from these people. >> yes. >> yes. >> until the republican establishment fully accepts the likelihood and right now it is a really good likelihood that donald trump is going to be to nominee we are going to constantly see all the floats. what is the way around this? we're still really concerned that trump may do damage to the party f. that is how the establish power brokers in the party continue to feel then we will continue to see these kinds of floats and names. but as you saw, speaker ryan batted it down. i'm sure a lot of people will bat it down. because, listen, if he is the clear front-runner and continues to win at the level he is winning -- first of all, if he continues to win at the level he is winning or do better he is going to get to 1237 before the convention. even if he doesn't, he continues to be shy, and imagine assuming he leaves cleveland not the

nominee what will happen with all his supporters? how will they react. >> we were just talking about what will cleveland look like. david thank you. next, the personal side of supreme court nominee merrick garland. we'll speak live with someone who worked under him and calls judge garland one of the hardest working fairest mined people he has ever met. so you evolve. you simplify. you haven't changed. you still help people live their best lives. and finally your new logo is ready, and you decide the perfect time to show the world is right... now. the next thing i know it'sedic morning. with tempur-flex you've got the spring and bounce of a traditional mattress and it also adjusts to my body. my cloud feels... it's like somebody's hugging you. how can a bed do that? (vo) there's a tempur-pedic for everyone. ♪ ♪virgin islands nice ♪

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welcome back. you are watching cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. one of the most respected u.s. senators has joined the chorus of senate republicans now opposing president obama's selection of a potential nominee to the u.s. supreme court, judge merrick garland.

it is a strange turn of events considering at one point senator orrin hatch was one of his strongest supporters for the d.c. circuit court. >> based only on his qualifications i support the nomination of mr. garland and i encourage my colleagues to do the same. to my knowledge, no one, absolutely no one sfus the following -- merrick garland is highly qualified to sit on the d.c. circuit. his intelligence and his scholarship cannot be questioned. >> joining me now, megan del rahim. and jay michaelson who happens to have been a former clerk for judge garland. welcome gentlemen to both of you. jay, let me turn to you. we've heard a lot about the qualifications of the judge. if you want to elaborate on that, but what is interesting, too, personal anecdotes. >> it was an honor to clerk for judge garland.

this is somebody who worked really long hours and actually did the law. there were a lot of judges who wanted a certain result and did what they needed to do to get to that result. judge garland wasn't like that. he was somebody who took the law seriously and the process seriously and is somebody who we couldn't predict how he would come out on various issues. when it came to judge garland you couldn't tell because it depended how he did the law. >> this is a guy who paid his way through law school as a shoe store stock clerk tutored kids in washington and also respected timothy mcveigh, unabomber walked around where? >> he was in the site, the devastation of oklahoma city and met with victims and actually did some of the work to try to get the victim's sides of the story in, too. that is unique. this is somebody who prosecuted more terrorism crimes than anybody else and who now sits on the bench. >> that is the qualification

side. maken, you disagree. we played the sound from senator hatch from 1997. as recent as a couple of weeks ago he was supporting this notion of judge garland as pick. why do you stand by republicans in saying no? >> you know, let me just first say that as far as him -- and i've known judge garland personally and in d.c. anybody who has been in the legal community there knows him. and he is an absolute first-rate class act. the issue is not so much who the person is who has been nominated. it's the time we're in right now. it is an election year. people have already started voting for the next president. and you know, the republicans made it very clear, up front, that it really doesn't matter who the nominee is. the fact that it's judge garland and he is well qualified, as would have been, you know, half dozen other folks the president may have been considering, makes

no difference. it's the issue of the court. and it's also justice scalia's seat. justice scalia's ideology and the balance of the court happens to be hang. they said let's wait until the american people have decided in november. >> the stakes are huge. it's 4-4 right now, liberals and conservatives. megan, the fact that senator mcconnell and others aren't holding hearings, won't meet with him. some won't meet with him when he goes to the hill tomorrow. they won't even take the step of doing fbi background checks. is that appropriate? >> i don't know if it's appropriate or not. i think it would be -- you know, might be a waste of both their resources and time #through a process to do that. i know there has been some talk about possible action after the election. and depending on who the winner is. so if a democratic nominee

becomes the president maybe you will get quick action on judge garland for confirmation to the supreme court and perhaps there will be some preliminary background checks. as far as, you know, what the senate does with its role in the advice and consent process, the president is very keen on saying elections have consequences. and he became president, and therefore he has the right to nominate. but in 2014, the american people elected a majority senate republican. and they have the right to not provide that consent just like senator schumer and then senator biden took the floor and said there shouldn't be in an election year. again, it has nothing to do with judge garland, his qualifications or his incredible personal traits. >> i hear you. it's not on qualifications. it's on process. but to you, jay -- and i know both of you know him. but he stood there today at the rose garden saying -- paraphrasing this is the biggest honor of my life. yet he has to know what he is

walking into. for judge garland, the human being, the man, walking into the middle of a massive fight what will that be like for him? >> i thought it was a stirring speech. >> emotional. >> he welled up, was fighting back tears talking about his wife and his grandfather. i'm jewish as well. and hearing that jewish immigration story was powerful. you can contrast that with the political machinations. we've seen nominees confirmed in an election year. so this is really unprecedented. it's obviously politicking and i think the fact that judge garland was able to take the high road sets up a contrast for the american people to decide. >> jay and makan thank you as well. >> thanks for having me. >> thank you. next, he's the last man standing in the so-called republican establish men. but who is ohio governor john kasich? we're going to dig into his record and find out whether he is really the nice guy he

appears to be on the campaign trail. stay here. here's the plan. you're a financial company that cares, but your logo is old and a little pointy. so you evolve. you simplify. you haven't changed. you still help people live their best lives. and finally your new logo is ready, and you decide the perfect time to show the world is right... now.

he could now be the potential republican dark horse here in this race.

but what do we really know about the governor of ohio, about john kasich? cnn's tom foreman dug up lesser known details about the presidential candidate. >> reporter: john kasich is not your run of the mill republican. in addition to once supporting a federal ban on assault weapons the ohio governor is also a grateful dead enthusiast to the point where it once got him into trouble. more on that in a minute. in 1978, he was the youngest person ever elected to the ohio senate, just 26 years old. one of his first acts as senator, refusing a pay raise. he ran for congress in ohio's 12th district in 1982, narrowly beating out democratic u.s. congressman bob shoe manski by a 50-47% margin. he went on to be reelected eight times. kasich quit politics in 2001 and spend a decade as a banker and television commentator before returning to office in 2011.

kasich was allegedly kicks out of a grateful dead concert after trying to force his way dwron to stage. so much for peace, love, and rock and roll. but he has a lot going for him. a republican who can win statewide in a key swing state. and despite being a member of the gop kasich has a history. working with democrats as well. in 1994 he supported a deal with president clinton to pass the federal assault west weapons ban. the nra was not pleased giving kasich an f rating at the time. he has also butted heads about law, once referring to a cop who gave him a ticket as an idiot. >> goes back to the car, come back, gives me a ticket. says you must report to court. if you don't report to court we are putting a warrant out for your arrest. he is an idiot. >> reporter: however he stays thieu to his republican counterparts, calls george w. bush his soul brother and cut

funds from planned parenthood requiring let's bring in a political reporter and columnist for the "cleveland plain dealer." mark, great to have you on. >> hey, good afternoon. >> so i was surfing your paper, your website this morning and what caught my eye, five reasons to vote for john kasich and five reasons to vote against him. most glaringly, he can't beat trump. i don't know if ted cruz would actually drop out but the establishment certainly could rally behind him. i mean the math is not there yet, but what do you think? >> i think he would have a hard time getting the nomination. if he did or if the two of them were head to head in any kind of race as we saw, trump would lose ohio, kasich would win ohio. >> okay. but moving forward, i mean do you see this as a potential contender if there is a brokered

convention and the establishment throws all their eggs in the kasich basket? >> yes, because kasich would play well in ohio and other midwest and battleground states. really trump is not going to get through places like ohio. i talked a bit about this in a piece yesterday. because ohio reflects the national mood, we have such a great balance of voters here, both -- all over the economic scale. trump did not play well yesterday based on the results of the primary in anything beyond some of our poorer counties. i think that would be tough to go forward. plus kasich does have the broader experience and in your setup piece you mentioned a lot of issues that i think kasich will bring out going forward. >> kasich, the politician, kasich, the wannabe republican nominee and kasich, the man. this is part of kasich -- let me just play this. this is part of governor kasich we have come to see on the trail, a softer side.

>> i really appreciate one of those hugs you've been talking about. [ applause ] >> all these months on the road, on the trail, what has surprised you the most? >> no question about it, that people have come to my town halls and they tell me some of the most intimate things that bother them in their life and they say it in front of other people where i guess they feel safe. sometimes all they want is a hug. >> i found how many people out there are lonely and don't seem to have anybody that listens to them or spends time with them or encourages them. >> that widow, who was married for 50 years who no one calls anymore, you want to change the world? you take her to dinner on saturday night. she'll wear that dress she hasn't worn in six months. never underestimate our ability to change the world in which we live. >> mark, you hear other things about him as well. that he's rude. your paper said he's running as

a hug loving, happy warrior on the trail but in ohio many people have found him to be brusk, arrogant and insensitive. >> right after he was elected for a first term, he told a group of power brokers and lobbyists down in columbus, ohio, that you get on my bus or i'm going to run you over. and he has made a very strong, you know, point of operating that way. you look at -- you know, you mentioned his anti-choice votes, signing legislation on that. he has also cut a lot of taxes that he brags about on the campaign trail but that did come at the expense of money to cities and communities throughout ohio that are now and in this election, you know, looking to raise taxes to make up for that. and kasich recently in an interview said, well, these communities have more than enough police officers. i think if he were to go and interview mayors of any city, they would take issue with it. he's taken a very different

approach as an executive leader in ohio than what you see on the campaign trail. i think those two sides of him will merge as we go forward. but it's still difficult for him to get the nomination, no doubt. >> mark, thank you very much. "cleveland plain dealer" on john kasich. coming up next, one of the bush brothers announcing which candidate he is backing. our interview with him, ahead. i. now you just book a seat, right? not quite. sometimes those seats are out of reach, costing an outrageous number of miles. it's time to switch... to the capital one venture card. with venture, you'll earn unlimited double miles on every purchase, every day. and when you're ready to travel, just book the flight you want, on any airline and use your miles to cover the cost. now that's more like it. what's in your wallet?

ted cruz's presidential campaign has picked up the support of a bush brother. not former candidate jeb, not former president george w., talking about neil bush, their younger brother. he has joined senator cruz's fund-raising team and he had plenty to say about donald trump. >> do you think donald trump is a uniter? is that what last night proves? >> no, i don't think he's a uniter. in fact i think he is the most flawed candidate the republican

party could put up as its standard bearer, and i would worry very much about retaining control of the house of representatives. i think we've got an opportunity to not only retain control, but to actually move forward with a positive agenda of reform if we had a real leader that could unite our party in a reaganesque kind of way. donald trump is not the guy. i'm not ready to go to the donald trump coronation at this point. the fat lady hasn't sung. there's still a lot of contest to be played out, out there. the more this becomes a two-man race, good for john kasich for winning his first state of the election process, but he hasn't won anything up until now. ted cruz has won nine contests and he's not -- he's not my first choice, i've made that pretty clear in other -- in an op-ed and other statements that i've made, but he is a clear principled conservative. that's one thing for sure, and he can beat donald trump one on

one. >> when allison followed up and asked if his brothers would endorse ted cruz, he said he does not speak for either of them. i'm brooke baldwin. thank you for being with me. see you at the same place tomorrow. "the lead with jake tapper" starts right now. thanks, brooke. was hoping president obama would go full frank underwood and nominate donald trump to the bench. "the lead" starts now. battle lines being drawn. president obama makes his pick for the supreme court and senate republicans say that is about as far as he's going to get. donald trump now predicting a riot if he does not get the republican nomination, even if he does not secure enough delegates. is it time for the republican party to go from denial to acceptance after another super tuesday trouncing? plus -- [ barking ] >> if anyone had a biggerht